Guitaripedia

Every guitar has a story.

Jackson

King V

It started as a giant V for a giant guitarist. Then Jackson cut the wings down so everyone else could wear it.

San Dimas, California. Jackson already has a V, Randy Rhoads’s lopsided one. Then somebody asks for one with both horns long, and Ratt’s Robbin Crosby, a very tall man nicknamed King, wants one too. The guitar that came out of that got smaller, and got his name.

Introduced
1985
Type
Solidbody electric (symmetrical V)
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

All guitarsMore Jackson

Cătălin 'Țopi' Simion playing a red Jackson King V on stage
Photo: Deadbunny / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0Cătălin 'Țopi' Simion with a red Jackson King V live (Erase); player-with-guitar fallback.

The short version

  1. 1985

    The first King V Custom

    Black, with a Kahler, serial J0506. Wikipedia prints the completion date as 3/10/85.

  2. 1986

    Twenty-four frets

    Dave Mustaine’s custom King V is completed on 10 October, with two more frets than usual.

  3. 1986–89

    The white one

    Mustaine’s white King V goes on stage and into the “No More Mr. Nice Guy” video.

  4. 1989

    New owners

    Grover Jackson sells to IMC and leaves the next year.

  5. 2002

    Fender

    Fender buys the Jackson brand.

  6. 2013

    A reject, rescued

    Wes Borland’s King V starts life as a left-handed factory reject, converted to right-handed.

  7. 2020

    From the ads to a signature

    Corey Beaulieu gets signature King Vs, based on the guitar he saw in Mustaine’s ads.

Side A

A1

Too big for most people

Jackson’s first V was Randy Rhoads’s, and it was lopsided on purpose: one horn long, one short. The next request was simpler and stranger. Somebody wanted both horns long.

Who asked first depends on who’s telling it. Wikipedia says Dave Linsk of Overkill ordered the first one, and Robbin Crosby of Ratt saw it and wanted one, then another, then another: red, black, and white. An account on a Jackson fan forum says Crosby’s own white one, serial J0139, “Big White,” was the first, and he ordered it himself. Both stories stay.

The guitar was called the Double Rhoads, and it was big. That worked for Crosby. He was, by one count, 6 foot 5, and by another six and a half feet. Hold something that size if you’re 5 foot 8 and you look like you’re carrying a road sign.

So after about ten of them (a dealer says twelve), the wings came in. The first smaller one was silver with black bevels. Crosby’s nickname was King. The shape got his name.

A2

Not a Flying V

Let’s clear this up, because people get it wrong. The King V is not a Gibson Flying V. It has two equal points, tapered thinner than a traditional V, and a pointed six-in-line headstock where Gibson has three-and-three. The neck runs all the way through the body. The Flying V is Gibson’s, and it dates to 1958.

It’s not the Rhoads, either: that one’s offset. And it’s not the first guitar with a J serial. J0001 is a 1983 pointy V built for K.K. Downing, which he never played. One video calls it a King V. It isn’t.

Wikipedia dates the first King V Custom, black, with a Kahler tremolo and serial J0506, to 1985. It prints the completion date as 3/10/85, which could be March 10 or October 3. I’m not going to guess the day.

A3

Crosby’s name, Mustaine’s guitar

Crosby gave the King V its name, but the guitar he actually lived on, according to Wikipedia, was still the big Double Rhoads. Jackson’s Mike Shannon remembers it a little differently:

Robbin had the King V, but he also had the Firebird[-style] stuff.

The player who made the King V famous was Dave Mustaine. Guitar World says his white King V was probably his first Jackson after he signed on: one humbucker, a Kahler, and the neck sanded so the lacquer wouldn’t grab his hand. He played it from 1986 to 1989, and it’s in the video for “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”

Then came the custom, completed on 10 October 1986, with a Seymour Duncan JB, a Bill Lawrence pickup, and 24 frets where a typical King V had 22. Two extra frets means two more notes at the top of the neck, the screaming end. He called it “the first 24-fret Flying V in existence.” His words, and it’s still a King V.

Around Rust in Peace, Mustaine was on a King V and Marty Friedman was on a Kelly. That’s the era. No specific track is pinned to a specific guitar, so I won’t pin one.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • ~10

    Double Rhoads made before the wings came in, by Wikipedia’s count. A dealer says 12. Neither is a factory total.

  • 24

    Frets on Mustaine’s 1986 custom. The typical count was 22.

  • 2

    Equal points. That’s the difference from the Rhoads, which has one long horn and one short.

  • 25

    2006 anniversary King Vs, per a thinly cited Wikipedia page, upsized back toward the Double Rhoads.

Side B

B1

The guitar in the ads

Mustaine moved on to ESP, Dean, and later Gibson. Jackson changed hands too: Grover Jackson sold to IMC in 1989 and left in 1990, and Fender bought the brand in 2002. The King V kept going.

Part of that was the ads. Corey Beaulieu of Trivium remembers Jackson’s ads with Mustaine on his King V and Friedman on his Kelly. He wanted the V. Years later, he got his own signature King Vs.

Everything’s based off the original because I love that guitar.

Scott Ian of Anthrax moved from a Soloist to the King V and has signatures on it. Phil Demmel of Machine Head says, “I’ve always been a King V guy.” Wes Borland’s King V started in 2013 as a left-handed factory reject that got converted to right-handed. The unwanted one found somebody.

B2

The size everybody wears

You can walk into a shop and buy a King V tomorrow, in a cheap bolt-on version, a mid-range one, or the neck-through Pro model with the Floyd Rose and the sharkfin inlays. Jackson doesn’t publish how many it’s made. It doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that it fits. The original was built big enough for one very tall man, and it made most people look like they were carrying furniture. Somebody had the good sense to cut the wings down. That’s the version Mustaine played, the one Beaulieu saw in the ads, the one on the wall of the shop now. The giant’s guitar, in a size the rest of us can wear.

Put this on

You’ve read about it. Now hear it. Here’s what this guitar sounds like, and what to listen for.

  1. Megadeth · 1989

    No More Mr. Nice Guy (video)

    Mustaine’s white King V, the one Guitar World believes was his first Jackson after the endorsement. One humbucker, a Kahler, and a neck sanded so his hand wouldn’t stick to the lacquer.

    Watch it on YouTube

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1980s

    Robbin Crosby

    Double Rhoads, then King V

    Ratt. Nicknamed King. The Double Rhoads was the guitar he lived on, but Jackson’s Mike Shannon remembers him with the King V too.

  • 1986

    Dave Mustaine

    1986 King V Custom, 24 frets

    Megadeth. Played King Vs from 1986 into the Rust in Peace era. Calls his custom “the first 24-fret Flying V in existence.”

  • 2020

    Corey Beaulieu

    Pro KV6Q and KV7Q signatures

    Trivium. Saw Mustaine’s King V in the ads and wanted one. “Everything’s based off the original because I love that guitar.”

  • Scott Ian

    King V signatures

    Anthrax. Moved from a Soloist to the King V. Fistful of Metal is the Soloist, not this.

  • 2013

    Wes Borland

    2013 converted King V

    Limp Bizkit. His first Jackson was a Rhoads. His King V started as a left-handed reject.

  • Phil Demmel

    King V, then the Demmelition

    Machine Head. “I’ve always been a King V guy.”

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Two equal points and a pointed six-in-line — Jackson’s symmetrical V, not the offset Rhoads, and not a Gibson Flying V.

Body
Mahogany, beveled; symmetrical King V
Neck
Neck-through one-piece maple, graphite reinforcement, scarf joint; oiled
Fingerboard
Bound ebony, alumiloid sharkfins, 24 jumbo, 12"–16" compound (304.8 mm to 406.4 mm)
Scale
25.5" (64.77 cm). Mix flagged.
Pickups
Seymour Duncan Distortion TB-6 (bridge) and SH-6N (neck), HH
Hardware
Recessed Floyd Rose 1000 double-locking trem; Jackson sealed die-cast; pointed 6-in-line; Dunlop dual-locking buttons; black
Electronics
Volume, tone, 3-way toggle
Finish
Gloss. Live page: Deep Black. Feature copy also names Ferrari Red
Nut
Floyd Rose 1000 locking, 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Current typical = Pro Series King V KV (jackson.com, 23 September 2026). Catalog $1,099.99. Living non-signature neck-through King V — not JS bolt-on, not X, not a signature, not leftover USA Select KV2. Factory scale: 25.5" (64.77 cm). Radius and nut also print millimetres. zZounds prints 25.5" (648 mm) and country ID. Musician’s Friend prints alder and nut 1.6875" (42.8 mm). Mix flagged. Do not average 64.77 cm with 648 mm, 42.86 mm with 42.8 mm, or mahogany with that alder line.

Construction

San Dimas already had a V. Randy’s was offset — one horn long, one short, jackson-rhoads. The next job was both horns long, then a V a shorter player could wear.

Wikipedia: that oversized guitar is the Double Rhoads. Dave Linsk of Overkill ordered the first; Crosby saw it and wanted one — red, black, then white. Circa 10, never catalogued, then the wings came in. First smaller one: silver with black bevels. JCF (Glenn Matejzel): Crosby’s J0139, “Big White,” was the first Double Rhoads, and he ordered it. A dealer video’s description says 12. Keep both stories and both counts. Neither count is a factory total. Not this table.

The name is Crosby’s. guitarguitar (Ray, 27 November 2024 and 26 August 2026): nickname King. Height splits. Shapes piece: 6 ft 5. Wikipedia: 6.5 feet / 198 cm. Do not average. The guitar he lived on, Wikipedia says, was still the Double Rhoads. Shannon, Premier Guitar (14 June 2011): “Robbin had the King V, but he also had the Firebird[-style] stuff.” No Ratt track pinned to either.

Not a Rhoads. Not a Gibson Flying V. Not J0001. Equal points, tapered thinner than a historical V (guitarguitar). No Gibson SKU. Korina Flying V is 1958, gibson-flying-v-1958-korina. Horsley (Guitar World, 22 December 2020): serial J0001 is a 1983 Pointy V for K.K. Downing, arrow headstock, never played by him, later Jay Reynolds of Malice. A Music Zoo title calls that guitar a King V. Different object.

Year. Horsley: mid-80s. guitarguitar: 1985. Wikipedia: first King V Custom, black, Kahler, J0506, completed 3/10/85, “17 months” before Mustaine’s, dated on the same page 10 October 1986. March 10 and October 3 both read 3/10/85. Neither is 17 months out. Keep the printed date. Do not invent the day. Jackson’s chart: other San Dimas neck-throughs J0407–J1539 in 1985. J0506 sits there. Soloist, Kelly, and Concert Bass share J, so the chart does not count King Vs. This plate starts in 1985.

Wikipedia, through 1985: Custom was sharkfins, binding, ebony; Student was dots, rosewood, no binding. Bridges were the order. Shannon remembers the King V after the Kelly. This catalog’s Kelly plate starts in 1983, the Soloist in 1984. Memory, not a log.

Mustaine’s custom froze the frets. Wikipedia: completed 10 October 1986; the signature had 24 against a typical 22. guitarguitar: two more than the standard. Guitar World (3 July 2026), on a silver signature: “That was the first 24-fret Flying V in existence.” His word. Still a King V. Wikipedia’s KV1, formerly King V Pro, is the signature it treats as the first sold model. No longer made. Y2KV is the later rounded one. Rude Awakening “Holy Wars” is that guitar, not this plate.

USA Select KV2 was the long American flagship: alder, quartersawn maple through, ebony, 24, Original Floyd. Pickups: Wikipedia and Chorder say JB in both positions; Equipboard says JB TB-4 and Jazz. Keep both. KV2T, Wikipedia: flat top, no bevels, shark-eye inlays, SLS headstock, later 24¾" against 25.5". Do not average. Off the US collection this pass. UK site: sold out.

Grover sold to IMC in 1989 and left in 1990 (guitarguitar). Fender bought the brand in 2002 (Horsley). Ontario on the chart from 1987. After spring 1990, production King Vs take U0; customs keep J.

Living Pro KV is Indonesia (zZounds): mahogany, 24, Distortion pair, Floyd 1000. KVTMG, $1,249.99, is the 22-fret hardtail sibling, EMG 81/85. Factory copy: pearloid sharkfins. Musician’s Friend and Guitar Center: alumiloid piranha. Mix flagged. X KVXMG is poplar, laurel, EMG 81/85, Floyd Special. JS32 is bolt-on poplar. No American Series King V this pass.

Classic versus current: a 1985 custom — buyer’s pickups and bridge, ebony sharkfins or rosewood dots — against that Pro KV.

Players

Do not recruit a Rhoads, a Kelly, or a Soloist onto this outline. Marty Friedman is jackson-kelly. Phil Collen is a Soloist. Scott Ian’s early Jackson is a Soloist too.

Robbin Crosby (Ratt). The name. Shannon puts a King V in his hands beside Firebird-style Jacksons. Wikipedia says the guitar he lived on was the Double Rhoads. No album credit pinned here.

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth). The guitar this plate is known for. Guitar World (14 September 2026): a white King V, believed to be the first Jackson after the endorsement — one humbucker, Kahler 2300, neck sanded so the lacquer would not grab — played 1986–89, in the video for “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Same piece: a 1986 King V Custom, called a prototype, Kahler fixed, Seymour Duncan JB and Bill Lawrence 500L, 24 frets from the factory, JE-1200 mid-boost, Megadeth logo, used 1986–1992. Guitar World (3 July 2026): around Rust in Peace, Friedman on a Kelly, Mustaine on a King V. Era, not a track sheet. He still has the second 24-fret. The first turned up as a Reverb ask he would not pay. Wikipedia: ESP 2003, Dean 2007, Gibson 2021. The Y2KV years are not this V.

Corey Beaulieu (Trivium). Jackson blog, 17 August 2020: the ads were Mustaine’s King V and Friedman’s Kelly, and he wanted the V. “Everything’s based off the original because I love that guitar.” Living Pro signatures KV6Q and KV7Q. USA KV6 / KV7 are Custom Shop, not this table. A 17 December 2025 Jackson post describes a later Beaulieu King V with an unfinished neck and Seymour Duncan Blackout Damocles pickups. No separate Damocles price was on the King V collection this pass.

Scott Ian (Anthrax). Horsley files him with the King V players. guitarguitar: he moved to the King V and has signatures on it. Living King V relation: X Series KVXT and USA Signature KVT. Fistful of Metal and the ’84 Soloist stay on jackson-soloist.

Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit). First Jackson was a Rhoads — a used one in 2004, then Ross Robinson’s 1981 — not this guitar (Guitar World, 27 May and 9 July 2026). The King V starts in 2013: a left-handed factory reject converted to right-handed (Total Guitar, via Guitar World, 15 February 2025). Pro signature: one Seymour Duncan Invader, Floyd 1500, reverse pointed six-in-line. Spec block nyatoh; feature bullet on the same page poplar. Review weight 7.27 lb / 3.3 kg. Mix flagged. Not the Pro KV table.

Phil Demmel (Machine Head). Guitar World, 4 September 2025: “I’ve always been a King V guy.” The Demmelition has wing cutaways. Wikipedia: not built like a traditional King V. Not the symmetrical Pro KV, and not a Rhoads. The polka-dot limited is a Rhoads-dot tribute on this V. His Fury is another body.

Also known to play stays short. Vintage Guitar, 26 July 2012: Mille Petrozza’s MillePhobia King V, X Series, Europe only, one EMG 81.

Rarity

You can buy a new King V tomorrow. JS, X, and Pro are regular production. Jackson does not publish yearly King V totals. None invented.

J serials date a guitar. They do not count a year. Soloist, Kelly, and Concert Bass share the sequence, which is why a 1985 census is unknown. After spring 1990, production King Vs take U0. An RR plate is a Rhoads, or sometimes a Double Rhoads. Not a count of this model.

What is actually thin: the Double Rhoads, custom-only, and the 2006 25th-anniversary King V. Wikipedia’s figure is 25, upsized toward Double Rhoads dimensions, Mercedes Silver, signed by Mike Shannon. That page is thinly cited. 25 is Wikipedia’s number, not a press release in hand. Not a 1985 census, and not 2026 street. USA Select KV2 is off the living US collection. Crosby’s Double Rhoads and Mustaine’s first 24-fret are unique objects. They are not a vintage King V.

Value

Informal estimate, 23 September 2026. Not an appraisal.

Ask versus sold labeled. Celebrity lots are not comps. No invented medians or factory counts. A clean Reverb Price Guide band for Pro / X / JS King V did not print in the static fetch this pass.

New street. Living non-signature Pro Series KV: $1,099.99 (jackson.com, 23 September 2026). Hardtail KVTMG $1,249.99. X KVXMG $849.99. Seven-string KVX-MG7 $1,069.99. JS32 $469.99 — the page also stamps “15% Off” on that same figure; no higher regular was on the cart. Hardtail JS32T $429.99. Seven-string hardtail JS22-7 $349.99. JS is bolt-on import street, not this table.

Signatures, same pass, not the table: Pro Corey Beaulieu KV6Q $1,499.99, KV7Q $1,599.99. Wes Borland $1,299.99, sold out. Scott Ian X carts do not agree: collection $799.99, another New KVXT $899.99, a sold-out product page $849.99, another sold-out Ian King V $969.99. Do not average. USA Scott Ian KVT $5,599.99. USA Corey KV6 $4,999.99, KV7 $4,799.99. Pro Phil Demmel limited, sold out, $2,099.99. Pro Plus Pure Metal KV1A, sold out, $1,469.99.

USA Select KV2 new asks still sit at $4,199.99 (Reverb dealer listing; Equipboard, prices dated 12 September 2026). Not on the US collection this pass. UK jackson.com: sold out at £3,899. Do not convert that into the dollar street.

Used modern. One Reverb listing’s widget, a 2022 Custom Shop KV2, printed estimated used $2,946–$3,920. That widget, not a series median. No clean 2025–26 sold sample for Pro KV, X, or JS isolated here. Don’t invent a midpoint.

Vintage / collectible. No clean 1985 San Dimas King V hammer isolated this pass. Mustaine’s first 24-fret: he told Guitar World a Reverb ask of $193,000, and that he would not pay it (3 July 2026). Ask, not a hammer. One guitar. Not a comp.

See also

  • jackson-rhoads — the offset V that started the brand; not this symmetrical one
  • jackson-kelly — pointed offset; Friedman’s guitar, not Mustaine’s V
  • jackson-soloist — Scott Ian’s earlier Jackson; Fistful of Metal is not a King V

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.